I love Mondays. That’s weird, right? But I do. I love my work, I love my team, and I love my clients, and so I’ve really grown to look forward to the start of each new week!
These days I start Mondays strong…with my morning rituals…plus a workout…a strong coffee…and hopefully a good hair day – LOL. Then I’m able to dive into the week feeling like I can conquer anything.
But I didn’t always feel that way.
I’ve had months in this business that made me want to throw in the towel completely.
I would stare at the sales tracking spreadsheet and start to sweat.
I even contemplated going back my corporate job from time to time.
But not anymore.
I head into the office and jump straight into ACTION to make sure the incredible cohort of women in our Brilliant Balance coaching programs are on a path to realizing their highest potential.
Yet the road to this place has been anything but straight for me.
It’s been full of ups and downs…. then bigger ups and even bigger downs.
Some were so big that I nearly gave up.
Because like many business owners, my progress has been anything but linear.
And because of that, for a long time, my EMOTIONS ruled the day.
Let’s think about this in terms of the bathroom scale. You know, that sometimes daunting device that you may or may not step on each morning as you’re waiting for the shower to warm up.
Think about how you feel when you step on that scale in the morning, and it tells you that you are a few pounds above your normal weight. Bummer, right?
Then, think about how you feel when it’s unexpectedly a few pounds BELOW. I’m willing to bet your day’s outlook just got a little bit sunnier.
This is basically the same emotional roller coaster as tracking the progress of your business each day.
When my progress arrow was going up and to the right, I was on top of the world!
And when it wasn’t, I immediately felt fat and ugly.
Just kidding – but it did make me somewhat of a train wreck.
So what did I do to unhook from this madness?
Ironically, I did the same thing with my business that I did with the bathroom scale.
I started tracking data on a more granular level, giving patterns a chance to reveal themselves.
And while the results were being generated, I concentrated on what REALLY mattered, which was my ACTIONS and EFFORT.
When you’re taking the right actions, the results will follow.
Today when I think about my progress, I’m so grateful I DIDN’T throw in that towel.
Because looking back, each and every downturn was followed by an even bigger upturn.
Funny how that works.
Let me tell you a little bit about the first half of this year – it’s been a big one for Brilliant Balance. We’ve:
- Launched a massively upgraded version of our biggest coaching program – BREAKTHROUGH – making it THE leading work life balance program for high achieving women
- Doubled our podcast listenership bringing us within reach of Top 20% status of ALL podcasts
- Expanded our team with top talent in client success, marketing, sales, finance, and operations
- Held a retreat for our high-growth entrepreneur clients in our BOARDROOM program
- Moved into new office space – one big enough to hold our growing team!
And as we’ve been doing that, we’ve had FOUR record months in sales (each one breaking the previous record. But was it linear?
See for yourself.
Not too smooth, right?
If you had talked to me at any one of those early LOW points on the chart, there would have been a lot of hand wringing and gnashing of teeth.
And had you caught me on any of the early HIGH points, there would have been high fives and fluttering heartbeats.
It was utterly exhausting to live that way.
And it was also misguided.
Because the only thing that REALLY matters when you’re tracking progress curve is the TREND.
These days, that’s what I look at.
Day in and day out, I focus on choosing the right ACTIONS to take, and over time, I measure the TREND in my results.
So let’s look at the trend on that same sales data.
You can plot these trend curves for anything when you are tracking progress over a period of time – losing weight, growing a business, increasing the # of steps you take each day, hours meditated each month, minutes of reading time each week, etc.
This is a much more accurate lens on the idea of being “better every day” vs. the false (and de-motivating) belief that you will LITERALLY see progress in a straight line.
Remember – we’re humans, not robots. And we don’t move in straight lines.
I work with my clients everyday on the mindset shifts required to avoid getting discouraged by short-term setbacks. It’s an emotional response to a point in time, and it will sideline you at the exact time you need to double down on your efforts.
Emotionally reacting only to the highs and lows is something amateurs do, and let’s face it – you’re better than that.
So if you’re serious about making real progress, pay attention only to your ACTIONS and the resulting trend. You’ll get further faster, and you’ll feel better while doing it.
So tell me – are you struggling with the progress curve in a key area of your life? If so, we should talk. You can get time on the calendar here https://brilliant-balance.com/booking/.
Let’s embrace our curves, shall we?
